Welcome back to podcast audit Number THREE in our series of four! Today I’d like to introduce you to my internet friend, Laura Howe, who has a business equipping churches to grow and strengthen their care ministries. She helps them craft strategies to train and support their volunteers and staff, who in turn serve others.
Welcome to Laura and her podcast, The Care Ministry podcast!
(Our interview has been edited for space and clarity.)
WR - So, Laura, tell us a little about your podcast and your business.
LH - I started the podcast about 5 months ago, after pushing it off for about a year. This format is really good for me, tho, because, as you can tell, I’m a talker.
WR - OK, so let me start with the things I see that you’re doing really well.
1 - Your name is super clear. You know, I always tell people to stay away from cutesy ‘cause sometimes people won’t know what to expect. But your name really lets people know what your podcast topic is about!
2 - Your audio quality is excellent, and that is super important.
3 - You have strong CTAs (call-to-actions). You tell people at the end, and you include them in the show notes on your blog. You might also want to include your CTAs in your episode description because some people don’t necessarily go read your show notes. But they’ll still have them available when they scroll through the description on their phone.
4 - You do a great job of crafting your content. However, you could do more to promote it.
How to Promote your Podcast to Gain More Engaged Fans
We took a look at Laura’s social media accounts, and it was clear that Facebook and Instagram were where she should focus. These are some strategies I suggested (timestamps included in case you want to hear all the details!):
10:48 - To get more downloads, take a quick 15-second snippet for an IG Story. Record a short “Hey, I’ve got a new podcast episode I’m dying to tell you about!”, activate captions (IG does it automatically), and then hit “Share.” Then, “rinse and repeat.” but this time, do a 15-second sharing something about the episode. You can use up to four 15-second recordings in an Instagram story.
Pro-tip: 15:20 Did you know that you don’t need 10,000 followers to add links to your stories? I share the “how-to” here…
And regarding CTA’s: where should I lead people to?
Well, leading them to your website for show notes is great for SEO, however, it discourages binge-listening because they have no direct access to additional episodes (sad face). Also, Apple podcasts is where they can leave a review and rating, and that’s good juice for your podcast!
18:40 - Your next step is long-form video, Instagram Live, and Reels. Go to your photo app and do normal little snippets, just like for your Stories. But here you’re gonna piece them together.
Try this: Record part of your story and then invite them to get the rest by dm’ing you ONE word! You then reply with the direct link to your podcast episode.
Thank you for joining me today - did you find this episode interesting? I’d love to hear what resonated with you. Head on over to Instagram @wrenrobbinscoach and tell me. Can’t wait to meet you!
And remember: “life’s too short to wing it!”
Listen to the entire episode here.
Have questions or want to contact Laura?
Listen to, rate, and review her podcast, The Care Ministry Podcast, here.
Her website: www.hopemadestrong.com
On Instagram: @hope_made_strong